Penguins have already earned the required points for this segment.If the Penguins can beat San Jose and Carolina, the last 2 games of the segment, they will have made up the required points they failed to earn in Segment 1.

Thread updated. WC race is still really tight. Penguins are tied with STL for most games played in the NHL with 49. That means a lot of teams chasing the Penguins have games in hand to catch up to Pittsburgh.

Penguins currently have 53 points with 49 games played. Philly, NYI, and Carolina all have 1-3 games in hand on the Penguins. If those 3 teams won those games in hand before the Penguins played again, so that all teams had 49 games played, all 3 of those teams would pass Pittsburgh for the final WC spot. Florida is dragging the line of in or out of the race. They have 5 games in hand on Pittsburgh, but, even if they won all 5 of those games, they'd still be a point short of the Penguins with only 52 points for Florida.

At some point, all those games in hand is going to result in a busy schedule for those teams, at a time out schedule becomes slightlymore relaxed. I find the discrepancies in games played to be odd, but will eventually even out.

Great58 wrote:At some point, all those games in hand is going to result in a busy schedule for those teams, at a time out schedule becomes slightlymore relaxed. I find the discrepancies in games played to be odd, but will eventually even out.

Yeah thx FLPF for the updates.

That is my hope too Great58, the lighter amount of games in the last 1/3 of our season becomes an advantage for us and our competition is grinding on more back to backs and wearing down.

We are going to need another incredible March run like we have gotten in recent years.

Man, I said zero chance they make the playoffs because there was no reason to believe they would be able to basically play .700 hockey in the second half after 500 hockey for 40+ games. Well...god I hope they prove me wrong. Definitely doing their best right now. I would love to be completely wrong. Honestly I'm a bit baffled at how good they they've been playing in the last 10 games and have to say, if you had this in you... where the #### was it in the first HALF of the season? Definitely not out of the woods yet though, but I've gone from thinking 0% chance to cautious optimism. I mean, it's pretty much going to be both wild card teams from the metro, but even Carolina is only 1 point behind us of they win the 2 games in hand. With everyone 1-3 GIH, we are still not in a playoff spot should those teams win most or of those games.

While the Pens have improved their play lately to be in a playoff position, the teams behind them pretty much have games in hand on the Pens. What some of you are forgetting is that the teams with games in hand will be playing other teams with games in hand, all with the goal to reach the playoffs. So someone has to lose those games. What the Pens don't want/need to happen is that those particular games become 3 point games. "Clean" wins as Bob Errey calls them.

Antonio wrote:Honestly I'm a bit baffled at how good they they've been playing in the last 10 games and have to say, if you had this in you... where the #### was it in the first HALF of the season?

I'd say two things. First, loss of Fleury and Kunitz can't be underestimated from a locker room perspective. Second, they simply had no urgency to their game. They remind me of the 90s Red Wings, with the "82 game preseason to get to the playoffs" mentality. Problem is, there are more teams, different playoff format, more parity than the 90s.

Big Easy Pens Fan wrote:While the Pens have improved their play lately to be in a playoff position, the teams behind them pretty much have games in hand on the Pens. What some of you are forgetting is that the teams with games in hand will be playing other teams with games in hand, all with the goal to reach the playoffs. So someone has to lose those games. What the Pens don't want/need to happen is that those particular games become 3 point games. "Clean" wins as Bob Errey calls them.

BEPF

NJ and Philly can pass the Pens with their games in hand. Rags and Isles can only tie the Pens with their games in hand. Pens have the tie breaker over the 2 NY teams.

Big Easy Pens Fan wrote:While the Pens have improved their play lately to be in a playoff position, the teams behind them pretty much have games in hand on the Pens. What some of you are forgetting is that the teams with games in hand will be playing other teams with games in hand, all with the goal to reach the playoffs. So someone has to lose those games. What the Pens don't want/need to happen is that those particular games become 3 point games. "Clean" wins as Bob Errey calls them.

BEPF

NJ and Philly can pass the Pens with their games in hand. Rags and Isles can only tie the Pens with their games in hand. Pens have the tie breaker over the 2 NY teams.

How many of those games in hand are versus each other though? I don't put a lot of stock into games at hand, since teams will tend to beat up on each other. The concern, like BEPF said, are the 3 point games.

I didn't look through their schedule in too much detail, but I think another thing that should help the Pens is that they're done with most of their out-of-conference games at this point. They have a lot of games left in the division, which means they can negate the effect of the games in hand by directly beating those teams battling with them, and they have a fair number of games left against the bottom-dwellers in the Atlantic (3 w/ Montreal, 2 w/ Ottawa, and one apiece with Florida and Detroit).

This doesn't take into account points out rivals will lose against each other. Purely mathematically, which doesnt strictly apply, that would be slightly less than a quarter of the remaining games. 7 ME teams on a total 30 other teams.

The foundation of our current playoff spot is very shaky. But unlike before its actually there

BTW, this hot streak has been great, but the Penguins are STILL in a precarious position playoff wise.

--Penguins are 2nd in the Metro, 4 points behind Washington. But the Caps have 3 games in hand, so that could easily be 10 points.--New Jersey is 3rd in the Metro, 1 point behind the Penguins. But the Devils have 3 games in hand. Win 1 of those 3 and the Penguins are knocked to 3rd. Win all 3 and they are 5 points ahead w/same games played.--Columbus is the 1st WC, also 1 point behind the Penguins. But the Jackets have 2 games in hand. Win 1 of those 2 and the Penguins are knocked to 1st WC spot. Win both and they are 3 points ahead of PIT.--Philly is 2nd WC, 3 points behind Penguins. Philly has 3 games in hand on Pittsburgh. Win 2 games and they knock the Penguins to 2nd WC spot.--Rangers are a point out of final WC spot with 2 games in hand on Penguins and 4 points behind. Win their next 2 games, and they are tied with Penguins in points.

This is why winning in November and December is important. The Penguins are very hot right now, likely won't be able to keep up this pace, and other teams getting hot can still keep them out of the post season.

FLPensFan wrote:BTW, this hot streak has been great, but the Penguins are STILL in a precarious position playoff wise.

--Penguins are 2nd in the Metro, 4 points behind Washington. But the Caps have 3 games in hand, so that could easily be 10 points.--New Jersey is 3rd in the Metro, 1 point behind the Penguins. But the Devils have 3 games in hand. Win 1 of those 3 and the Penguins are knocked to 3rd. Win all 3 and they are 5 points ahead w/same games played.--Columbus is the 1st WC, also 1 point behind the Penguins. But the Jackets have 2 games in hand. Win 1 of those 2 and the Penguins are knocked to 1st WC spot. Win both and they are 3 points ahead of PIT.--Philly is 2nd WC, 3 points behind Penguins. Philly has 3 games in hand on Pittsburgh. Win 2 games and they knock the Penguins to 2nd WC spot.--Rangers are a point out of final WC spot with 2 games in hand on Penguins and 4 points behind. Win their next 2 games, and they are tied with Penguins in points.

This is why winning in November and December is important. The Penguins are very hot right now, likely won't be able to keep up this pace, and other teams getting hot can still keep them out of the post season.

We control our own fate at this point. With 14 of our remaining 30 games being against Metro opponents, making or missing the playoffs will be the result of our head to head matchups against these teams. I like our chances. 4 head to head against the Devils can more than overcome their games in hand advantage, and if we are to be a playoff team, we'll take that series. Flyers are where they are because they've been red hot, 8-2 in last ten. I'm more than willing to bet that if the Pens can't keep up that pace, neither can the Flyers. And we have two games left against them. Everyone else is hanging around .500 in their play this month with no clear signs of catching fire.

I think the Pens and the Bruins are in good positions in the East, playing their best hockey of the season now. Not peaked, but not mired in the midseason doldrums that Tampa seems to have found lately.

Thread updated......big loss last night, as the Devils are now a point ahead in the standings with 3 games in hand.

I know the Washington was a big, hard fought game that was going to make playing the Devils the next night a challenge. Kind of wish they would have tanked against the Caps and showed up against NJ. Was a much more important game last night.

FLPensFan wrote:Thread updated......big loss last night, as the Devils are now a point ahead in the standings with 3 games in hand.

I know the Washington was a big, hard fought game that was going to make playing the Devils the next night a challenge. Kind of wish they would have tanked against the Caps and showed up against NJ. Was a much more important game last night.

I think they’ll make the adjustments, similar to how Carolina smoked them at first.